NormalNot
by Penned.In.Ink
Summary: Rukia and Ichigo have been mad at each other since they got back from rescuing Inoue in Hueco Mundo. In less than a minute, they unleash all that pent up anger at each other, not realizing they threw in some confessions too. Rated M for language. Ichiruki
1. Chapter 1

"No."

"Yes."

"No freakin' way."

"Shut up idiot, we're going." Rukia kicked Ichigo in the shin. Hard. Enough to make him agree to go to, according to Rukia, to "a social event", according to Ichigo, a waste of time, and according to normal people, a party.

"Fine."

Ishida and Orihime watched a somewhat abnormal fight between the two very abnormal shinigamis. Somewhat normal because they were fighting…not normal because it ended so quickly. They had been a little quiet lately…

"_Shit. How the hell did she manage this? Geez, she fought a freaking Espada!!" Ichigo yelled._

"_Just be grateful she'll be fine, thanks to Orihime. Besides, she'll be saying the same thing about you-have you seen yourself lately?" Renji eyed Ichigo, sensing his reiatsu fluctuate regularly, but he was definitely not prepared for the surge of reiatsu that came from Ichigo a split second later._

"_GRATEFUL? YOU FUCKING WANT ME TO BE GRATEFUL FOR THIS? SHE'S PRETTY MUCH DEAD! DAMN THAT SELFISH BITCH! AND YOU KNOW WHAT ELSE? SHE DOESN'T EVEN CARE—"_

"_HEY SHUT UP I'M GONNA HAVE TO LISTEN TO THE BOTH OF YOU SAY THIS SO CUT ME SOME FREAKING SLACK OK??" Renji used shunpo to get him away from the strawberry. "Yup, definitely gonna have to listen to this again…"_

"_What the hell do you mean?? HE DOESN'T CARE?"_

_Renji looked at the door, wishing he could be on the other side of it and very far away. He watched Rukia fume, (even with her many cuts and bruises and broken stuff). "You know, he did kind of care that you were pretty much…you know…dead, so h—"_

"_ME?? I DON'T FREAKING GIVE A DAMN THAT I WAS DEAD! _HE _WAS ALMOST DEAD! HOW THE HELL DID HE MANAGE TO FIGHT A FREAKIN ESPADA AND NOT DIE? WHAT IF HE DIED?? DAMN THAT SELFISH BASTARD! AND YOU KNOW I BET HE DOESN'T EVEN CARE—"_

"_Shut up already. This is the second time I've had to listen to this crap so will the both of you leave me ALONE!" Renji stormed out, worn out from taking on both Ichigo and Rukia within the same week…same year, for that matter._

"I'm tired of this." Ishida continued waiting with Orihime at the Kurosakis' home for Rukia and Ichigo to get ready to leave for the party in Soul Society. Another party Matsumoto was throwing for the sake of getting drunk and having fun. "They haven't been the same since we got back from Hueco Mundo. They're obviously mad at each other. They should really stop this childish game soon."

"Me too." The normally happy Orihime agreed. She, too had been a bit down after coming back from Hueco Mundo. "I'm just glad I got over Ichigo so quickly," she thought.

"_I'm glad you're okay, Orihime." A weak, wounded Ichigo looked at Orihime's happy, somewhat worried face. She hugged Ichigo._

"_Thank—"_

"_Ichigo!" Renji interrupted. "Rukia's dying! Get Orihime over here to save her n—"_

"_WHAT?" Ichigo, even so weak, shunpo-ed away from Orihime to see Rukia, cursing under his breath._

"_Thank you," Orihime finished. She pictured Ichigo's horrified face when Renji had yelled to him and remembered the way he left her so quickly for Rukia, and the way Rukia always looked at Ichigo "He really loves her, doesn't he?" she thought. A tear fell from her eye and she looked up to see Ishida walking toward her._

"_Are you ok, Inoue?" Ishida's usually calm face showed a hint of worry._

"_No...I'm ok, Ishida. Thank you." She paused and wiped her tears away. "It's just…they really love each other don't they?" She felt more tears forming in her eyes._

"_I supposed they do." He walked over to Orihime and gave her an awkward hug. (Ishida was obviously inexperienced in hug-giving.)_

"Let's get this over with." Ichigo walked downstairs, followed by Rukia.

There were many awkward silences on their way to Urahara's shop, in between the awkward talks about the weather. A very awkward, silent, uneventful journey to Soul Society.

The awkwardness (mostly) ended when they reached the "social event". (Matsumoto only called it that so regular people would go without worrying about all the drunk people that would be there, even though everyone knew.) Ishida and Orihime left Ichigo and Rukia and went to enjoy the party and each other's company.

Rukia and Ichigo stood there, each mad at each other but not showing it. Rukia, a true Kuchiki, kept her same expressionless expression that no one could see through, except maybe the strawberry standing next to her…Ichigo, on the other hand, held his same scowl as always, same as in his head—except in his head, he was scowling at Rukia.

"Thank god Chad couldn't come…it would've been even more awkward," thought Rukia.

They both started walking across the room, very randomly, just so that there was something to do other than be awkward.

"This is lame." Ichigo scowled.

"Well, at least Rangiku tries to be _nice_ and _polite_." Rukia glared back, her almost permanent Kuchiki expression gone for a split second.

"Yeah, _some_ people just have a hard time doing that, I guess." Ichigo's glare was almost as intense as Rukia's.

"I think some people just have a hard time _appreciating _and _accepting_." Both were on the verge of cracking. What Ichigo said next did it for her.

"I _completely _agree." She cracked.

"DO NOT tell me I'm not appreciative. At least I'm not a SELFISH BASTARD. You have NO right to tell me—" Then Ichigo cracked. Each shinigami's reiatsu started to fluctuate.

"OH now I'M the SELFISH ONE. WELL I WOULDN'T BE TALKING YOU MIDGET! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW FREAKIN' SELFISH _YOU_ ARE?! WELL LET ME TELL YOU—" Their pent up anger at each other started to spill out.

"I'M SELFISH? WELL LET ME TELL YOU HOW SELFISH _YOU_ ARE!" The other shinigami started to take notice of the two stubborn people in the middle of the room. "YOU ARE SOOO SELFISH! YOU NEVER LISTEN TO ANYTHING! YOU DISRESPECTFUL BASTARD! YOU DIDN'T EVEN LISTEN TO ME WHEN I TRIED TO HELP YOU! BUT _NO_ YOU JUST _HAD_ TO COME TO SOUL SOCIETY TO COME SAVE ME. OH, YEAH! OF COURSE IT WAS A FAVOR! YOU JUST WANTED TO BE ARROGANT AND SHOW OFF THAT YOU COULD FIGHT AND LET'S NOT FORGET HURT ME! A—"

"_I _WANTED TO HURT _YOU?! YOU _WANTED TO HURT ME! NOT EVEN PUTTING UP A _SMALL_ FIGHT WHEN RENJI AND BYAKUYA CAME TO GET YOU? _NOTHING?! _NOT EVEN A COUPLE WORDS?! THEN OH—DON'T COME AFTER TO ME, ICHIGO! WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO? LET YOU DIE BECAUSE OF ME?! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU FUCKIN' PUT ME THROUGH??"

"WHAT _I _PUT _YOU _THROUGH?! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT WAS GOING THROUGH MY HEAD WHEN I FOUND OUT THE SHIT YOU WERE GOING THROUGH TO _FIGHT THE ENTIRE SOUL SOCIETY FOR ME?_ WELL LET ME TELL YOU—"

"I DON'T FREAKIN' WANNA HEAR IT! YOU DON'T CARE ABOUT THE FACT THAT I SAVED YOU—"

"I DON'T CARE?? OF COURSE I CARE! IF I DIDN'T CARE I WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN SO FUCKING WORRIED! DO YOU KNOW WHY I TOLD YOU NOT TO COME AFTER ME?! DO YOU?? NO, OF COURSE YOU DON'T BECAUSE YOU'RE TOO FUCKING SELF ABSORBED!! I TOLD YOU SO THAT YOU WOULDN'T HURT ME! I WAS HURT EVERY SINGLE TIME I HEARD NEWS ABOUT YOU GETTING HURT!!" Byakuya, who had, yes, come to a party, raised has eyebrows at his sister's language. No not, the swearing. I was what she was saying. "Dammit. I should have seen this coming. That bastard ryoka." He thought.

Ichigo continued. "YOU WERE WORRIED?? I WAS WORRIED! THEN YOU WENT AND GOT YOURSELF KILLED BY SOME ASSHOLE ESPADA—"

"_I _DID?? _YOU _DID!! DO YOU KNOW WHAT I'VE SACRIFICED FOR YOU??"

"YEAH YOU ALMOST GOT EXECUTED AND I TEMPORARILY TOOK YOUR POWERS BUT GEEZ I SAID SORRY—"

"YOU THINK I CARE ABOUT THAT?? I SACRIFICED MORE THAN YOU WILL EVER SACRIFICE FOR ME! I FREAKIN' HAVE TO WATCH YOU FIGHT OVER AND OVER AGAIN AND ALMOST DIE! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MUCH IT HURTS?!"

"YOU SACRIFICED?? _I _SACRIFICED! _I WATCH_ _YOU FIGHT TOO! _THAT HURTS LIKE HELL YOU KNOW!!"

"WELL YOU'RE TOO STUPID TO NOTICE ANYTHING _STRAWBERRY_, LIKE WHEN YOU CAN'T WATCH YOUR BACK_! _OR LIKE THE FACT THAT I THINK I'M IN LOVE WITH YOU_!"_

"YEAH RIGHT! _YOU _DIDN'T EVEN NOTICE THAT! YOU KNOW WHAT ELSE YOU DIDN'T NOTICE? THE FACT THAT I THINK I FUCKING FELL IN LOVE WITH YOU TOO, _MIDGET_!"

"YOU DIDN'T NOTICE EITHER DID YOU??"

"WELL YOU DIDN'T EITHER!"

"MIDGET!"

"STRAWBERRY"

"DWARF!"

"IDIOT!"

Needless to say, they were being pretty oblivious, due to the fact that they had unleashed a couple weeks of pent up anger at each other. There was an awkward silence in the room as they stalked away from each other, leaving a huge gap in the crowded room, which was by now deadly silent, except for…

"Stupid, idiot, strawberry, stubborn idiot. Saying I'm selfish…who the hell does he think he is?" Rukia failed to notice that she had stalked right past her brother. "She continued to mutter under her breath, much like Ichigo…

"Stupid, bitchy, self-centered, stubborn midget. Saying _I'm _selfish geez. Who the hell does she think she is?" Ichigo stalked past all the Captains except Byakuya on the other side of the room.

They both continued to mutter.

"Selfish idiot…thinks just 'cause he loves me he can do whatever he wants for me and die and—"

"Selfish bitch…thinks just 'cause she loves me she can do whatever she wants to me and die and—"

They both paused.

"_WELL YOU'RE TOO STUPID TO NOTICE ANYTHING STRAWBERRY, LIKE WHEN YOU CAN'T WATCH YOUR BACK! OR LIKE THE FACT THAT I THINK I'M IN LOVE WITH YOU!"_

"_YEAH RIGHT! YOU DIDN'T EVEN NOTICE THAT! YOU KNOW WHAT ELSE YOU DIDN'T NOTICE? THE FACT THAT I THINK I FUCKING FELL IN LOVE WITH YOU TOO, MIDGET!"_

Ichigo turned slightly pink. "Wait—"

…so did Rukia. "—a second…"

They both replayed their conversation…well, yeah ok, yelling match, again.

"He loves me... that bastard…"

"That bitch loves me…"

"Wait. Shit."

"Oh fuck."

"I confessed to the strawberry."

"I told the midget."

They both swore over and over again loudly. Everyone inside maintained an awkward silence as they heard each shinigami "think" out loud. "Everyone" included all the captains and vice captains…etc.

They both stalked back into the room from opposite sides, both redder than Ichigo's hair.

"Screw this."

"Oh crap. I don't even care."

They both stalked toward each other and kissed. That's it. In front of all the shinigami. In front of Rukia's now very upset brother. In front of everybody. Including Ichigo's father.


	2. Chapter 2

Yeah, I didn't put any author's not on the first chapter so I figured I should make one, so here it is.

I do not own Bleach. Duh.

Thanks reviewers! This is my first fanfiction, so I'm glad you guys like it. I really appreciate the comments.

I started trying to picture how the heck Ichigo and Rukia would confess to each other, and I tried picturing it being really nice and romantic like some stories, but I really couldn't do it—in my mind, they'd have to be insanely irritated at each other, and it would be because (what else?) they were insanely mad at each other about something (like each other). I guess it's still kind of romantic amidst their cursing 'cause it's still both of their personalities…but oh well. Confessing to each other while arguing is much more realistic to me…'cause you know, that's basically what they do all the time. Lol. Then there has to be some other trouble…

--

Ukitake couldn't contain himself. He burst out laughing. Maybe he was laughing at the fact that Kurosaki Ichigo and Kuchiki Rukia had confessed to each other pretty much in front of everyone in Soul Society. Or maybe it was the fact that both their faces were bright red. Or maybe it was the funny look on Ichigo's face after Rukia kissed him again. But it was probably because of the look on Kuchiki Byakuya's face after witnessing all of this.

Let's just say it was semi-shocked, semi-worried, semi-disgusted at the fact that he would have to think up enough reasons that another shinigami could not _be with_ his sister—it's not that it was hard…usually. Usually, he would just say that the shinigami just wasn't powerful enough to protect Rukia. But in this case, he couldn't do that. That _brat_ had fought Soul Society…fought Espadas countless times. The human boy fought _him._ _And won_. The only excuse the great Kuchiki Byakuya could think up at the moment was that he was a human. Kurosaki Ichigo was human. And that's it. No other reasons. (Besides the fact that Byakuya just didn't really like him, but that probably wouldn't count…or did it?)

Byakuya's state of choking on air-spirit particles remained the same, and so did Captain Ukitake's laughter. Everyone joined in. Laughing. Hysterically. At the three people that no one thought were good at expressing themselves. But mostly at Ichigo and Rukia and how it had happened.

Rukia leaned up to Ichigo and whispered, "You know, I still think you're an idiot. And your face is brighter than your hair. But heck, let's get away from everyone before it gets crazy because I do _not_ want to be suffocated by everyone in Soul Society because of you. Got it?"

Ichigo smirked. "Yup, I got it, midget. You're face is brighter than my hair too. " Before Rukia could make a smart comeback, thus starting another fight, he said, "Whatever. Just follow me."

"Whenever you're ready." Rukia rolled her eyes.

Suddenly, amidst all the laughter, Ichigo shunpo-ed away from view. No one had expected this, nor had anyone seen him move…except Rukia. She disappeared too, following Ichigo.

Byakuya thought that his worst fears just entered reality. (You know…the filthy human boy and Rukia disappearing…not letting anyone know where they were…alone…)

If anyone thought it was impossible for Byakuya to get any paler and choke any longer, they were proved wrong. Soi Fon thought he looked as if she had poisoned him.

Kurosaki Isshin was overjoyed that his son had finally gotten himself a girl…well, shinigami, technically, but who cared? His son wasn't completely hopeless. (Isshin tried many times to bond with his son over sharing magazines, less-than-decent TV shows, clubs, all rejected.) He spotted Urahara across the room laughing even more hysterically than he was. Isshin stopped laughing and hid himself and went over to Urahara to discuss the real reason there was a "party" in Soul Society. And the real reason had absolutely nothing to do with Matsumoto's desire to be drunk.

It had something to do with Aizen.


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Notes...

Hey everybody! Sorry this took so long. I had a hard time figuring out how to write this, so sorry if it's kind of weird. Thanks for reviewing!

Enjoy!

--

**Chapter 3**

Rukia opened her eyes. And screamed.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!! GET OUT OF MY FACE!!"

"WHA—" Ichigo opened his eyes too. "AAAAAAHHHH WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING RIGHT IN FRONT OF MY FACE?!"

Both shinigami started to realize that the events of last night were real. As in, they actually happened. As in, not a dream. As in, everything was real.

"_Where are we going again?"_

"_I don't know. Far away, idiot. I don't want anyone to catch up to us."_

"_If you don't want anyone to find us then why are you moving so slowly, then?"_

"_I am NOT moving slowly! Your stupid shunpo is just fast!"_

"_Fine then." Ichigo grabbed Rukia and put her on his back._

"_Ichigo! This is NOT necessary! PUT ME DOWN!!"_

"_Shut up! You just said that I'm faster, so I'll carry you! And I'm kind of wondering why exactly you don't want anyone to find us." By now, they were very, very far away from the party and were now traveling over a grassy field._

"_Well I just don't want all the drama."_

"_Sure Rukia. Right. Like you don't just—" Rukia kissed his cheek as a smile started to form on her face. And Ichigo did the most stupid thing he could have done._

_He stopped short._

_Rukia went flying through the air._

"_YOU IDIOOOOOOOOOT!!"_

_Ichigo's blush started to fade and finally realized that Rukia was flying through the air headed for the ground. Just as she was about to make a crash landing, Ichigo shunpo-ed over to her and caught her small form. "Hehe…sorry bout that…"_

"_At least you caught me," said Rukia, as her angry expression started to turn into her "I love you" face. (She really wished she could control it.) She kissed Ichigo again and he kissed her back. "I hope that hollows won't show up around h—"_

"_Shut up, midget," said Ichigo as they both kissed each other again._

And now they were tangled up in each others' robes, laying on the grass. Luck decided to play an insanely sadistic trick on them just then.

"Hey…Is that—"

"SHIT!!" They both swore. The 6th squad (including its very upset captain) was headed toward them. Neither had bothered to hide their reiatsu.

Rukia expertly hid her reiatsu, although she knew it wouldn't do much good. "Ichigo! Hide your reiatsu NOW! Hurry up!!"

"I'M TRYING, OK! YOU KNOW I'M NOT GOOD AT THIS KIND OF STUFF!"

"SHHHH! They'll hear us! Let me try…" Rukia used kidou to hide their reiatsu's and make them pretty close to invisible.

"What did you do?"

"I just made it harder for them to find us! Do you really think that we have a chance at running away at this point?? We'd still need time to put our robes back on!"

Ichigo was very, very slow. He blushed as he realized that Rukia's shinigami uniform was, in fact, what they were using as a blanket. "No wonder it's so short," he thought.

Rukia became very nervous. "Don't move or make any noise. This might actually work…Just. _Don't. Screw. This. Up."_

"OK, ok. Geez you're the one that's talking so much."

Rukia was about to make a smart reply, but was cut off when she heard her nii-sama's voice.

"Find them. Now."

The sixth squad spread out and searched the area. Ichigo and Rukia had many close calls, but no one found them.

Byakuya was increasingly worried. "Their reiatsu's were so strong before…then they just disappeared…No…Kidou? I didn't think Rukia knew that…"

"Daijou! They're not here!" Byakuya's face threatened to show hints of worrying. He was tempted to keep searching here but...

"OK, everybody! They're not here! We can search somewhere else then!" Renji yelled.

Rukia and Ichigo breathed a sigh of relief as they heard the 6th squad marching away with their very reluctant captain. Rukia stopped the kidou spell because it was draining her energy.

"Fukudaijou! Are you coming?"

"I'll be right there!"

Ichigo and Rukia froze and stared at each other in horror as they heard footsteps coming toward them. They slowly turned their heads to look up at Renji when they felt his shadow looming above them. Renji was smirking. And he started to laugh.

"You two are so damn FUNNY!" he laughed. Rukia and Ichigo were bright red, rivaling Renji's hair color.

"Don't you DARE tell anyone about his or I'll kick your sorry ass, Renji.! Rukia glared at him.

"Yeah I'll be there too."

"Hey, guys, I'm the one that got the 6th squad away so they wouldn't find you so shut up! _You're _the ones that owe me. And besides, I can blackmail the both of you." Ichigo and Rukia's mouths were wide open. Renji laughed again. "You guys had better get dressed and get back to seireitei or you'll be late for the meeting. Hehe...you'll have to face everyone sooner or later..."

Ichigo and Rukia's expressions went from nervous to clueless. "What meeting?"

"Oh right...you guys--" he paused. "...weren't there when Captain Commander Yamamoto announced the meeting in half an hour." He laughed. "You guys had better hurry up!" Renji shunpo-ed away back to his squad.

"Damn that Renji. He was always good at seeing through that kidou."

"So...what do we do?"

Rukia sighed. "Obviously, we have to go to that meeting. We'd better hurry."


	4. Chapter 4

"Something doesn't feel quite right." Rukia looked like she was wearing clothes that were 5 sizes too big for her. (In other words, average sized clothes.)

"Something doesn't _look_ quite right." Ichigo's shinigami uniform barely covered his knees.

"Dang it, strawberry! This is all your fault! We don't even have time to change!" Rukia yelled hysterically.

"Hey midget, if you weren't so short, it wouldn't even matter that we swapped clothes! And besides, if you hadn't made me stop short in a totally flat place, we wouldn't have taken so long to change because then you could've changed behind a freakin' tree or something!"

"_Don't turn around Ichigo! I'm warning you! Don't!"_

"_I'm closing my eyes_ and_ my face is in the dirt! What else do you want me to do?"_ _Ichigo was still lying where he had woken up, and Ichigo was still using Rukia's uniform as a blanket…and Rukia was changing into Ichigo's uniform. (Both of them failed to realize this a little too late… "You're sure you're not looking?"_

"_Of course not, geez. Shut up and get dressed! I thought we had to go to that stupid meeting!"_

"_Fine, fine!" Rukia dressed, all the while thinking that her uniform seemed a little big that day…_

"I did _not_ take that long! And besides, you could've noticed that you had a hard time fitting into _my _uniform!" She punched him in the arm. "And I'm not a midget! For the millionth time, I still might grow!!"

"Yeah, right," muttered Ichigo as he rubbed his sore arm.

"What was that?!"

"N-nothing. You know what, I'll just pull down my uniform and bend my knees—"

"—And I'll hike it up a little." Rukia smiled. "Maybe you're not that big of an idiot after all."

"Maybe you're not _that _short." Rukia, luckily, let that comment slide as she stood up (on her tippy toes) to kiss Ichigo lightly. They both blushed. "Get on my back and let's go." Rukia and Ichigo sped off.

"We'll need a plan once we get there. Nii-sama might get upset if we both arrive late at the exact same time, not to mention _together._" Ichigo and Rukia realized how obvious they made it when they left the party. They looked at a each with worry written across their faces like the way Rukia could write across a blank piece of paper and produce something hideous, according to Ichigo. "Nii-sama must be upset already, actually, now that I think about it."

"No shit! He sent his entire squad after us!" Rukia sighed.

"Well I'm not arriving after you. I can't be the only Kuchiki that comes late to an official meeting, not to mention the one that comes after the human! No offense, of course."

"Right, sure. Well you go in first and I can wait around the corner. I'll listen for when the doors close and wait a while—"

"Five minutes. At the very, absolute least, five minutes."

"—Fine. Five minutes."

The reached the huge building and Rukia dismounted. They both tried to look like they weren't wearing each other's uniforms.

"I guess this is as good as it'll get." Rukia started walking toward the doors, and when she was about to turn the corner, a thought occurred to her. "Hey Ichigo! By the way, I won't let Nii-sama hurt you or kill you or—"

"Hey Rukia, I beat him. And if you haven't noticed, I've gotten a lot stronger since then too."

"Just saying, Ichigo!" She paused. "I guess I really do love you." She said quietly. But Ichigo heard her and smiled.

"You too…Even if you're short!" He said. Rukia sent him a glare, but still smiled back at him and turned the corner.

She walked as normally as possible, trying not to let Ichigo's uniform drag on the ground. She was still a while away when she saw Hanataro run up to the guards and show them that he was carrying important messages as they opened the door for him and it slammed shut. Rukia didn't even realize that Ichigo started waiting for 5 minutes to pass the very second the doors closed…

And then of course, some stupid idiot shinigami had to be a stupid idiot and the stupid idiot guards had to give the stupid idiot shinigami a hard time about getting let in. She walked more slowly for a couple minutes when she saw (and heard) them bickering. "I can't wait any longer! I'm already late!" She thought. Rukia hurried towards them and asked in her best Kuchiki voice if she could be let in. The guards immediately opened the doors for her and she walked in.

…Meanwhile, Ichigo turned the corner and ran towards the doors. The guards gave him a strange stare (_everyone_ heard about what happened at the party) and let him in.

Rukia was just about to sit down when she heard Ichigo run in. He came less than a minute after she did. Rukia gave him her very best glare.

Eveyone else there was struggling to not snicker. (Except Byakuya, who was doing his best not to release his bankai and attack the human brat. He had _very _good self control.)

Ichigo and Rukia very conveniently had seats next to each other. All eyes were on them, and many hands were covering mouths as people giggled.

This was going to be one really great meeting.


	5. Chapter 5

Ok, guys. I felt bad for not posting for a while, so I'm posting another chapter up. I know it's going kind of slowly, so sorry!

Thankyouthankyouthankyou for reviewing! I really appreciate it. *hint hint* more reviews give me more incentive to write... :)

Anyways, I'm glad if you're enjoying my stories! I'm having fun writing them! *cough and making people miserably happy (does that make sense??)* o well, here it is!

***there might be spoilers in here***

Kuchiki Byakuya was keeping a secret. Oh no, not the kind of secret that you don't tell anyone _else._ It was just one of the things that he didn't want to accept. He refused and refused to believe it, but deeeeep down, he knew it was true.

He respected Kurosaki Ichigo. (Cue the gasps and fainting people.)

At least part of the Kuchiki noble had some sort of _respect _*cringe* for him. I mean really—the kid had fought him, won, and since then, he'd gotten even stronger. (Byakuya even partly doubted the fact that he could last very long in a battle with Kurosaki.) Byakuya was even _taught a lesson_ by him. The idiot was somewhat wise.

But no, wise was not the same thing as smart. The orange haired, bad mouthed, overconfident, arrogant human may be wise. But definitely _not _smart. Just to keep things straight. (And keep him sane. Somewhat.)

Right now, the people sitting around him were slowly rising on his list of people to attack with Senbonzakura.

First off, obviously, was Kurosaki Ichigo. (Although he knew that this was out of the question, seeing as he was very valuable to Soul Society.)

But after that, he couldn't really decide. There was Mayuri, who was just plain creepy and annoying…Soi Fon kept snickering, encouraging the stupid snickering snickers of everyone else…Matsumoto who made no attempt to cover up her laughter at very strategic times and everyone else would laugh…Zaraki who kept making crude jokes about Rukia and the low life…Ukitake, who would, no doubt, make sure that Rukia and Kurosaki get what (they (thought?) they wanted…Ikkaku and Yumichika that encouraged their captain in their own special way ("Wouldn't they be _so_ beautiful together?" "But the kids would be—" *laughter and another joke from Zaraki* etc.)…and the thought process went on.

Meanwhile a couple seats down:

"You _idiot!! _You were supposed to come in five minutes after me! Not five _seconds!! _Now look at what you did!" Rukia hissed quietly to Ichigo.

"I waited for the doors to shut and started walking!! What, like someone else was that late and went in before you?!" Ichigo whispered back angrily.

Understanding suddenly dawned on Rukia. "Hanataro went in before me." Her eyebrows knitted together as she tried to figure out a way to blame him. Unsuccessfully.

"Ha!! It wasn't my fault!!" Ichigo gave his infamous smirk.

"Shut up. Or you'll regret it."

Ichigo did, indeed, shut up. The smirk didn't disappear, though.

"My god, Ichigo. Wipe that look off your face."

"This is what my face looks like all the time."

"Well change it."

"_I _thought this was the face you fell in love with."

"No, it wasn't the face, it was…hmmm what was it again?"

"I think maybe it was just everything about me," he said confidently.

"I doubt it."

The snickers and jokes and outburst of laughter continued. The Captain Commander made no attempt to stop anyone. It'd be useless. "_Why can't they shut up???!!!! _Rukia, really, maybe you could've just snuck _under_ the doors. You're definitely short enough to do that. Then we wouldn't have these problems!!" Ichigo complained.

"Well maybe _you _could've disguised yourself better. And what kind of 'making my robe look like it fits you' did you not get?? The robe comes up to your knees!!"

"It comes past my knees!"

"Barely!! Did you see Matsumoto and even Captain Hitsugaya's faces when you came in??!!!"

"The reason their mouths were that wide open was because I came in at almost the same time as you, which was, by the way YOUR fault!!"

"It wasn't ALL my fault!! You could've been more PERCEPTIVE and SMART about things!!" (Rukia thought about some things the same way as her brother, although she would probably say that Byakuya gave him maybe too little credit.)

"YOU could've been more CAREFUL!"

"YOU could've been LESS SHORT!"

"YOU COULD SAY SOMETHING RELEVANT!! AND ME BEING _SLIGHTLY _TALLER WOULDN'T HAVE HELPED MUCH!!"

"WELL _YOU_ COU—" Ichigo was interrupted by the very loud coughs of everyone around them. By the time they started yelling, the laughing had stopped, something that Ichigo and Rukia were unaware of.

"Kurosaki Ichigo and Kuchiki Rukia, you may take your seats," Captain Commander Yamamoto said forcefully.

Ichigo and Rukia realized that they had stood up during their bickering and did as they were told, both very embarrassed. The captains, vice captains, and a few other selected shinigami sat around them, slightly confused as to how two people could fight so much but still love each other. Many had a hard time grasping the concept that they might even remotely _like _each other. But time to move on.

"Now, to continue—"

"Excuse me, but I'd like to interrupt as I have some very important information to share." The voice was instantly recognized.

"You!! You were banished to the Living World!" Yells filled the room.

"Urahara Kisuke!"

"Guards!"

Another familiar shadow came forward. That of none other than Shihouin Yoruichi. "Don't."

"Believe me, attacking would _not_ be a smart idea." Zaraki Kenpachi's eyes widened in recognition as one last figure showed itself. There were many gasps in the crowd of shinigami. The only words Zaraki spoke: "I killed you. Y-y-you're supposed to be dead," stupefied.

"Well, obviously, I'm not." None other than Kurosaki Isshin was the cause of the great Zaraki Kenpachi's sudden fainting.

Ichigo was silent was his state of shock slowly turned to one of anger.

It was only a matter of time for complete chaos to ensue.


End file.
